Automobile sleigh.



T. H. F. SCHWOCH.

AUTOMOBILE SLEIGH.

APPLICATION HLED mar 20. 1915.

Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

THFSCHWOCH avi/themes W m. rm w. Q.

UNITED sTAfrmrsiirENT OFFICE.

THEODOB'E H. F. SCHWOCH, OF GREENWOOD, WISCONSIN.

` AUTOMOBILE SLEIGH.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE H. VF. SoHwooH, a :citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at, Greenwood, in the county of Clark and State ofWisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAutomobile Sleighs, of which the following is a4 specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to an improved automobile sleigh, and has for itsprimary object to provide simple and easily attachable i means forconverting the ordinary automobile into a power driven sleigh.

, Theinvention has for a more particular object to provide spurreddriving wheels 'upon the rear driven axle of a vehicle, runnersdetachably connected to the ends of the,

aXle and provided with longitudinal slots to receive the respectiveWheels, and' housing Sections for the wheels rigidly mounted upon therunners.

The invention has for a further object to.

` companying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an automobile sleigh embodying thepresent invention, a portion of the wheel housing being broken away ;iFig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is aperspective view of one of the rear runners; and Fig. 4: is a detailperspective view of one of the wheel spikes.

,eferri-ng in detail to the drawing, 5 desil'lgnates the body' of thevehicle which ia m'oijnted upon the front and rear axles indicated at(if-and 7, respectively. To the ends of the front aXle 6, the runners 8are attached by means of a plurality of braces 9, said braces attheirupper ends being connected bythe bearing-member 11 which receivesthe wheel axle. A cap or cover plate 12 is pivotally mounted at one endand extends over the axle and isv secured in its closed position by theset screw 13. This cap plate carries an oil cup 14 whereby the axle'and. its bearing may be lubricatd,

Application filed February 20, 1915.

V1specification of Letters Patent. Pa'tented Oct. 19, 1915.

Serial No. 9,624.

i The rear Wheels of the machine indicated at 15, are provided withmetal tires 16, said tlres and the wheel felly having openings formedtherein to receive the shanks 18 of the gripping spurs 17. The bodyportions of these spurs 'are of triangular form in cross-section toprovide sharp end edges which are adapted to bite into the snow or ice.The extremities of the shanks 18 are threaded to receive the nuts 19,whereby the spikes are securely held in place.

The rear runners 20 are of substantially similar form to the forwardrunners and are attached to the vehicle axle in' the same manner bymeans of two sets of braces, preferably four in each set, indicated at21.. The lower .ends of these braces are offset so that they may besecured to the runner at each of its longitudinal edges. centrallyformed with a longitudinally eX- tending slot or opening 22 which isadapted to receive the lower portion of the wheel 15. It will beunderstood that the runners sustain the weight of the vehicle body atits rear end, thereby taking the weight ofl'l of the flriving wheels.

To the oppositc end of each of the runners 20, one section of the wheel.housing 23 is hingedly attached, 4as at 24'. These housing sections areadapted to bc brought together over the wheel felly and rim and areprovided with suitable means at-their ends whereby the' Sections maybe-detachably connected. side plates which extend upon opposite sidcs ofthe wheel, and thus inelose the same' From the foregoing description,taken in i connection with the accompanying drawing,

the construction and manner of operation of my invention will be clearlyand fully understood. Upon the transmission of power to the reardriving` Wheels of the vehicle, the spurs on the rim thereof grip thepacked :at-if, 1 on the road surface as'they successive/lypa-sdownwardly through the slots 22 in the rear runners and thus driveor propel the machine. The runners 20' are curved` upwardly at theirrear ends in the usual manner, so as to permit of the hacking or reversemovement of the machine' without injury to the runners in the event thatobstructions should be encountered. The runners may be very easily andquickly attached to the a'xles of the machine or removed there- 11:0

from, vtogether with the spurred driving Wheels, and the ordinarylrubbertired ve- The runner 20 is 7,5

Each section is provided with 90' hicle Wheels replaced thereon. Theinvention, as e whole, is eomperetiveiy simple in its construction andis Strong end (lurahle in use and ma he pi'oclucecl at smellmenufacturing cost. The outer set 'of hreoes of thev rear runneljs areconnected at their up- 'per ends to an annulus which is looeely mount'edon the outer endof the Year exle.. Whlle I have shown and desoafibeflthe 'preferred construction end an'ungement of the several' elementsemployed., it Will be understood that the invention is eusceptihle ofconsiderable modification therein, end

The combination With e vehicle a-Xle end :md connected to said.'Ltnnulus, housing sec' t-iozns hingedly connected at one of their endsto the opposlte ends of the runner, the other lende of said Sectionsmeeting above said di'iving wheel, means for detachably conneeting thesame, en side plates seoured to the housing sections for entirelyinolosing the dnving 'Wheel :md runner bi'aces and n l fl v efiord aprotectmg g'uerd 'Iorv the letter.

In testnnony Whereo I hereunto aflix my signature in the presenoeo' twoWitnesses.

,"EGDRE l LF. SCHWOCH.

Witnesses f: i

Ammivmn. GEL niemow, E. O. (h'i'ronmu.

